


Knit One, Purl Two

by fadedink



Series: Days of Christmas - 2014 [11]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2757929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedink/pseuds/fadedink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck wants the perfect gift for Raleigh's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knit One, Purl Two

**Author's Note:**

> The 11th Day of Christmas because it's Raleigh's birthday. :D

The first winter Chuck spends in Anchorage, he bitches about the cold the whole time. First of all, it's _damn_ cold. Second, everyone expects him to bitch.

And really, he makes it a point to never disappoint people when they expect the worst from him.

 

The second winter – and honestly, he's got to learn to say no to Raleigh, because the weather is just right back home, yet here he is, freezing his bollocks off _again_ (and that more than anything else tells him it's love) – he has a game plan.

He has part of a game plan. A fraction of one.

Whatever. It's a plan.

Wear as many layers as possible and stick as close to Raleigh as he can. Which leads to a lot of cuddling. Raleigh doesn't complain about (not that Chuck expected him to), but he does make more than one comment about Chuck's cold fingers. And icy toes, which Chuck blames on Raleigh because he keeps it just this side of meat locker cold in the house.

Raleigh argues that point, but Chuck just gives him a look.

 

The third winter...

Well, by the third winter, it's ridiculous. No matter how cold it is in Anchorage, Raleigh goes back for a few weeks and asks Chuck to go with him. And Chuck says yes because there's no reason not to and a lot of reasons to go.

But the third time is different.

He's spent the entire winter in Sydney teaching himself to knit via YouTube videos. He's become fairly good at it if he does say so himself.

Well, okay, yes, his first attempt at a hat looked more like a mushroom and that one scarf ended up making a much nicer blanket for Max than it did a scarf. But he's better now. Now his scarves actually turn out the right size and the hats look more like mushroom caps than whole mushrooms.

But the third winter, Raleigh decides to go in early December instead of late January like they've done every other year. They'll be back in Sydney for Christmas (which is good, because Chuck is not at all okay with the idea of spending Christmas bundled up to his eyebrows while Raleigh attempts to teach him how to ski or ice skate), but Raleigh's birthday falls smack in the middle of the trip.

Which is fine, but Chuck usually drags Raleigh off for a weekend when they're back home and this time they've dragged themselves off together. To Alaska. Where it's really fucking cold.

So Chuck decides to knit Raleigh a sweater for his birthday.

It's a good idea in theory.

 

He starts early, gathering skeins of a soft yarn in a soft periwinkle that will make Raleigh's eyes even bluer. And no, he hasn't given this whole color thing a lot of thought. He just notices things is all.

The perfect pattern is found for a cable knit fisherman's sweater that will be thick and warm and perfect, even if there won't be too many opportunities to wear it in Australia. He's positive that Raleigh won't mind.

It's the thought that counts, right?

 

It starts out well, with his stitches even and he doesn't drop a single one.

That fact alone should have set off warning bells in his head.

It doesn't.

 

He has to buy more yarn because the body of the sweater takes more than he expected.

That should also have set off warning bells.

 

By the time Chuck starts the second sleeve, he realizes there's a problem. It's already three-quarters as long as the first one and it's only half finished.

He spends several days looking at it, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

But he finally decides to just finish it. It's still the thought and all that.

 

When it's done, Chuck lays it across the bed and looks at it.

And looks at it some more.

It's... Well, it's weird looking

One sleeve is longer than the other, the collar is too big (which Chuck supposes is better than too small), and the body is all lumpy.

It is, quite frankly, a disaster.

He holds it up, and that's when he sees that the bottom of it will come to mid-thigh. Which is far longer than it's supposed to be. That explains why he had to buy more yarn.

Of course, that's the exact moment Raleigh walks through the door.

What's that, he asks and his expression is a weird cross between amusement and horror.

Supposed to be your birthday present but it's fucked, is all Chuck says as he gives Raleigh a look before shifting his attention back to the sweater.

Raleigh doesn't say a word, just makes a weird noise deep in his throat. His expression is pure innocence when Chuck glances over at him.

But Chuck just drops the sweater on the bed, grabs Raleigh's hand, and says that he'll figure out another gift.

 

Three days later, it's Raleigh's birthday.

And the first thing Chuck sees when he steps out of the shower is Raleigh sitting on the bed. He's clearly not fully awake (which isn't a surprise because he was still snoring when Chuck crawled into the shower) and his hair is sticking out all over the place.

But he's smiling and wearing the sweater.

It looks utterly ridiculous on him. But he's wearing it as he sits cross-legged in the middle of the bed. And yes, it does indeed come to mid-thigh on him.

Which is about when Chuck realizes that Raleigh doesn't have on a stitch beneath that ridiculous sweater.

Raleigh's smile grows bigger when Chuck drops the towel and climbs onto the bed. It's perfect, he says and yeah, Chuck has to agree.

It really is perfect.


End file.
